In light of the new pokie reform, pokies clubs doubt that they will have enough time to equip their poker machines with pre-commitment technology before the deadline of 2016. It is the same excuse used by Clubs Australia earlier this year to combat the plans for the pokie reform trial in the ACT. Now, clubs across the country are backing this claim.

All poker machines in Australia are required to be equipped with voluntary pre-commitment technology by 2016, and club owners believe that this is a very tight deadline. During a recent Senate inquiry, club owners expressed their concerns about the deadline for poker machine reform. They stated that since voluntary pre-commitment software is not yet available to them, it will take quite some time before they can equip their machines with it.

As such, they state that they will not have enough time to redesign to software and outfit their pokies by the 2016 deadline. "The timetables within the legislation are far too ambitious in terms of compliance," says Jeff House of ClubsACT. House states that the timeline has remained the same, ever since the poker machine reform trial was introduced earlier this year.

The deadline for games to be equipped with the software was 2013, and pokies manufacturers stated that they would need over a year to complete the changes. It seems as though the deadline has been pushed back by three years to accommodate all pokies in Australia – however, ClubsACT is still convinced that its clubs will need more time. House claims that there is the need for more ground work to be laid.

He states that his jurisdiction is lacking a central monitoring system, which he feels is an essential tool in the voluntary pre-commitment scheme. In addition to creating the system, clubs would need to install and test it before 2016. Despite there being three years until the pokie reform deadline, ClubsACT doubts that it will have enough time.

About the Author

George Anderson
Author George, has over 25+ years’ experience in the Pokies and Casinos industry throughout Australia and New Zealand. Loves to research new Pokies games on the block and follows announcements from top industry providers about their upcoming releases. As soon as a new interesting pokie game appears on his radar, George is there to check it out and give you the scoop before anyone else and tell you about all casino sites where can play the latest game. Before this gig, George worked as Pokie game tester, making him an ideal candidate for this genre of work. He is also an animal lover and a proud owner of three dogs.